Several studies show that drivers falling asleep while driving is one of the major, most common and dangerous causes of traffic accidents. It is a known fact that the loss of control of a vehicle by its driver, even during just a few seconds, is sufficient to cause a fatal accident to one or more persons.
For drivers who have not had enough sleep, or for drowsy individuals, it is difficult, if not impossible, to prevent their body from going into a state of sleep while they are driving.
Traffic accidents caused by motor vehicles are one of the leading causes of death in modern society. Both in Europe and the United States traffic accidents account for one of the highest morbidity and mortality rates. Motor vehicle accidents are a common complaint from both professional and private drivers, which result in high legal and economic costs to society. Study conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia entitled: Trastorno del sueño, available at: http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/medicina/2007860/lecciones/cap5/05—06. htm)”.
The identification of physiological factors and individual responsibility as regards driver's behavior are key factors in improving road traffic safety. Recent research suggest that drowsiness and individual perception of driving risks are related factors, and they must be taken into account when developing plans to improve motor vehicle traffic safety. Study conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia entitled: Trastorno del sueño, available at: http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/medicina/2007860/lecciones/cap5/05—06. htm)”.
Results obtained in terms of a reduction in road traffic accident rates vary depending of the countries studied. In Europe, England and Sweden have the lowest traffic accident rates: 148 and 151 deaths per month per million vehicles respectively, while France has almost twice that figure: 306 deaths per month, per million circulating vehicles. Differences among countries, in terms of attitudes and behavior associated to strategies and individual perception of the risk of driving, are a good explanation for such high accident rates. Study conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia entitled: Trastorno del sueño, available at: http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/medicina/2007860/lecciones/cap5/05—06. htm)”.
Drowsiness while driving has been identified as a major cause of traffic accidents, especially in vehicle crashes on major highways. However, the significance given to drowsiness and how it contributes to accidents is poorly understood to date. For example, it is a known fact that many traffic accidents are caused by drivers who fall asleep while driving or because they make mistakes associated to drowsiness, which affects their alertness or their judgment while driving. Study conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia entitled: Trastorno del sueño, available at: http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/medicina/2007860/lecciones/cap5/05—06. htm)”.
Currently available medical evidence suggests that drivers who fall asleep while driving are much more likely to suffer episodes leading precisely to errors of judgment and alertness. For example, a recent study monitoring 40 commercial trailer truck drivers by means of continuous electroencephalograms and face video filming during four to five consecutive days, found that sleep-related behavior patterns such as blinking, the tendency to close the eyes and nodding were significant and actually more frequent than falling asleep episodes as determined by electroencephalographic criteria. Study conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia entitled: Trastorno del sueño, available at: http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/medicina/2007860/lecciones/cap5/05—06. htm)”.
It is obvious that someone who is electroencephalographically asleep is not able to drive a motor vehicle properly. However, it has been determined that serious problems may develop during the time interval existing between a full state of alertness and the beginning of an electroencephalographically defined sleep episode. For example, attention tests conducted by running surveillance tasks using computers showed that drowsy individuals can successfully perform such tasks for long periods of time with only 1 or 2 episodes of complete isolation or lack of response. However, should such episodes of psychomotor performance failure occur precisely in dangerous situations (e.g., while driving on a highway bend or when approaching another car), they may contribute to or cause serious accidents. Study conducted by the Universidad Nacional de Colombia entitled: Trastorno del sueño, available at: http://www.virtual.unal.edu.co/cursos/medicina/2007860/lecciones/cap5/05—06. htm)”.
Drowsiness affects drivers basically in the following ways: a) at the nervous system level, after 16 hours of wakefulness the brain will secrete endorphins disconnecting some parts of the central nervous system; b) at the vision system level, a drowsy person will suffer from blurred vision, inaccurate or wrong distance perception, and c) at the level of reflexes of the central nervous system, signals from sensory neurotransmitters will cause muscle relaxation of neck, arms, hands, legs, and torso, resulting in the immediate loss of control of the vehicle while driving. The literature mentions so-called sleep micro-events, which are very short sleep periods ranging between 1 to 4 seconds. Studies show that a driver operating a vehicle at a speed of 88 km/h and falling asleep during 4 seconds will travel a 30-meter distance having no record whatsoever of such activity (El sueño al volante, Jeovany Ibañez, http://www.mundoymotor.com/mm126/10832811669.htm).
Statistics show that, only in the US, over 100,000 people suffered traffic accidents in 1999 caused by drivers who had fallen asleep. Experts say that drivers' drowsiness is the second leading cause of accidents after alcohol. However, experts also emphasize that accidents caused by drivers who have fallen asleep are 4 times as lethal as accidents caused by drivers driving under the influence of alcohol, as drunk drivers usually tend to stop or slow down their vehicles to avoid accidents, while drivers under the influence of sleep do not record any activity while they fall asleep. (El sueño al volante, Jeovany Ibañez, http://www.mundoymotor.com/mm126/10832811669.htm). Finally, it is recognized that the above mentioned figures about accidents caused by people under the influence of sleep could be even higher, since such cause of accidents is not commonly reported in studies. That is, drivers tend to say they do not remember why the accident happened.
The prior art includes several inventions and/or devices which have been developed to prevent people and/or drivers to fall asleep when they are performing tasks, duties or functions that require to be in a state of consciousness.
Some devices consist of a) a system for monitoring the drivers eyes (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,786,765; 5,745,038; 4,875,030, etc); b) systems for monitoring the inclination of the head (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,684,461; 3,906,478; 5,923,263, etc); and c) systems for monitoring other human body parts, such as gloves that grasp to the wheel (U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,785); while other systems consist of a combination thereof (U.S. Pat. No. 6,147,612).
However, none of these inventions and devices have been marketed successfully on a large scale, since they fail to solve a large number of problems. On one hand, devices which have made a greater impact and which are on the market in larger quantities are those monitoring the inclination of the driver's head. However, these devices do not solve the problem of traffic accidents. This is because, usually, the alarm system for which they are designed will only activate when the head of a drowsy driver should incline in certain degree range, such as e.g. greater than 10% degrees, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,684,462, or about 40% degrees, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,906,478. However, a time of 1 to 4 seconds is required for the head of a driver to lean to such degree, which is long enough for the driver to lose steering and vehicle control and therefore cause an accident. Devices which monitor eye blinking often trigger false alarms derived from normal eye blinking. In addition, in certain circumstances, the time delay of an alarm activated by eye blinking is of 2 to 3 seconds, which, again, is crucial at the time of avoiding accidents. Devices such as glasses or the like, which are placed on the drivers head, are often not very aesthetic, excessively uncomfortable, and complex since they must be linked to an alarm device connected to the vehicle engine. They are also of little use for people wearing glasses, goggles or for those who, for any reason, cannot use or are uncomfortable using such glasses or fixed devices on their heads. In addition, the cost of such devices is high, considering their limited efficacy.
In view of the above, the aim of this invention is to provide an alarm device to drivers which solves the problem posed by a drowsy driver in a simple, effective, and aesthetic manner. Still another aim of this invention is to provide an alarm device which is user-friendly, simple to manufacture and comparatively cost-effective.